FCPS rezoning plan for new high school moves forward; community concerns persist

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – Fayette County Public Schools has been through a lengthy process to rezone some school districts in preparation for the new Mary E. Britton Middle School located on Polo Club Boulevard. Through several meetings and a community forum, they have discussed a half-dozen options and are now moving toward completion of the project.

“We’ve been working on this project for the last three or four months, actually more behind the scenes,” said Steve Hill, who leads FCPS student personnel.

Hill says they have arrived at the current proposal, their sixth scenario, to take into account the rapid growth of the Hamburg and Polo Club areas of the city.

“The first year, we are trying to start with 800 students, and that is a goal because we are projecting that (the areas) will grow over the next five years, up to the capacity of about 1,200 students,” Hill said.

The catch? Some nearby residents were zoned into the new high school district in May, but a change in plans left them out.

“We have kids who are about to enter high school and think they might go to that school, so the change was a little difficult to understand,” said Emmy Meier, who lives in the Summerfield neighborhood.

Meier says people moved into the Tuscany and Summerfield neighborhoods thinking this new part of the community would be theirs, too.

“One of the selling points for the neighborhoods was getting the new high school and it’s so close to us, we drove by it often,” Meier said.

Hill has heard their frustrations, but says those neighborhoods are also growing rapidly. So this approach provides an equitable enrollment base for Mary E. Britton and the other schools undergoing district changes.

Still, Meier hopes they can work with school leaders to find a solution.

“It’s a growing area, we know that,” Meier said. “I don’t know if there will be 1,200 additional units there in five or 10 years.”

Thursday night’s presentation to the board during a work session ended with the proposal moving to a final vote, which is scheduled for Aug. 26.

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